The story of my Marlin Roadster. Part 2.

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My Marlin Roadster is a standard wheel-base version, using a 1981
model 1.3 Morris Ital, as the main donor of mechanical components.
The Marlin Roadster kit consisted of a light but strong chassis constructed of box section steel and a set of body panels, some in aluminium and some GRP mouldings.The Roadster was later produced  by YKC engineering, basically the same but using Ford Sierra components.


I completed the construction and the formalities to be able to use the car on the road on the fifteenth of April 1991 after commencing the task some twenty-two months earlier. But the story of the cars engineering heritage goes back a long way before that. I had purchased the Ital second hand in December 1982, and had used it until 1989 before dismantling it for it's components and disposing of the remainder.



The Ital was the last of the Morris line that went back to 1912 when Herbert Morris made the first Morris Oxford.
The Ital was a short-lived model, only in production from 1981 to 1984
and was an obsolete design when introduced. It was a revamped Morris Marina and shared that models diverse engineering history. The Marina was introduced in 1972 as the British Layland Motor Corporations answer to the Ford Cortina and was an amalgam of components and design influences from various parts of the corporation.


The 1275cc 1.3 engine used in the Marina and the Ital was originally an Austin design, the front suspension and steering was based on that of the Morris Minor and the rear axle and gearbox had first been used in Triumph cars.


The Morris Minor suspension and steering was the first of these components to be designed and produced. The design part took place towards the end of the end of the Second World War, in the Cowley works of Morris Motors and was the work of Alex Issigonis. He had been developing his ideas on independent suspension which was not then in general use, and when he was allowed to design a completely new car he incorporated his idea's in to it. The Minor front suspension was of the wishbone type, using a lever type shock-absorber operating arm as the top link, a pair of steel pressings as a lower link with a torsion bar attached to their inner end.



Torsion bars had been chosen as the layout used gave lots of room for a proposed flat four engine that didn't make it to the final design. A forged upright connected these links and had the steering arm and the stub axle attached.
An unusual method was used for steering pivots in the form of screw trunnions top and bottom, similar to a nut and bolt arrangement. The final component a steel tie rod that links the bottom of the upright forward to the chassis.


The Minor was in production by 1948 and due to it's front suspension, rack and pinion steering which was another departure from current practice, and a forward weight distibution it's handling was a great step forward.



When the Minor front suspension was incorporated into the design of the Marina, the top trunnion was replaced by a ball joint design that had been created for the Mini, the next big step forward by Alex Issigonis. In the Mini it was used to connect the forged top suspension arm with needle roller bearings at its inboard end to the swivel hub. In the Marina this was again a lever type shock absorber. The Mini connection was used to advantage in the Marlin design, when the lever type shock-absorber was replaced by a telescopic shock-absorber and a Mini upper suspension arm was used instead, the common ball joint was the thing that made this possible.



The 1275cc engine used in the Ital, the Marina and in Minor in 803cc, 948cc and 1098cc form, was the "A" series, this engine, was first fitted to the Austin A30 in 1951. Initially with an output of 30BHP and rising to a peak in unmodified form of 93BHP in the MG Metro Turbo, it was produced in ten different capacities, three of them only used in the Mini Cooper and Cooper "S" models. It was used in twelve distinct models and I estimate that around twelve million cars have been produced with the "A" series
engine.  I sometimes think my Marlin with the "A" engine feels like a vintage car, after driving my Rossa K3 fitted with a Rover "K" series engine.



The Triumph Toledo 1300. (1970-1980), Was the first car to use the gearbox used in the Marina and Ital, and I beleive the rear axle came from the same source. As the Marina/Ital was a backward looking design, the components were ideal for a car that mimiced the designs of sports cars of the late 1930's.



It is not a track day only car, but is in the spirit of the pre-war
sports cars, to be used every day, at home on the winding country roads or just for running about, but mainly for fun.

[YellaBelly]

Nice looking car there Dave 

Originally I wa interested in a Marlin as my first kit car but never managed to get sorted. Then along came Mr Champion and now it's gonna be a 7esque

['The Gaffer']

Very interesting post Dave, thanks for sharing.

Did'nt those Itals always seem to be cream and brown